[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 23 (Monday, February 4, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5113-5116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-2594]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Final Allocation of the Post-2004 Resource Pool-Salt Lake City 
Area Integrated Projects

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of final allocations.

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SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal 
power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), announces its 
Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (SLCA/IP) Post-2004 Resource 
Pool Final Allocation of Power developed under the requirements of 
Subpart C-Power Marketing Initiative of the Energy Planning and 
Management Program (Program) Final Rule. This notice also includes 
Western's responses to comments on proposed allocations published June 
13, 2001.
    Final allocations are published to indicate Western's decisions 
prior to beginning the contractual phase of the process. Firm electric 
service contracts, negotiated between Western and allottees in this 
notice, will permit delivery of the allotted power from the October 
2004 billing period through the September 2024 billing period.

DATES: The Post-2004 Resource Pool Final Allocation of Power will 
become effective March 6, 2002, and will remain in effect through 
September 30, 2024.

ADDRESSES: All documents developed or retained by Western in developing 
the final allocations are available for inspection and copying at the 
CRSP Management Center, 150 East Social Hall Avenue, Suite 300, Salt 
Lake City, UT 84111.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western published Final Post-2004 Resource 
Pool Allocation Procedures (Procedures) in the Federal Register (64 FR 
48825, September 8, 1999) to implement Subpart C-Power Marketing 
Initiative of the Program's Final Rule (10 CFR part 905), published in 
the Federal Register (60 FR 54151, October 20, 1995). The Program, 
developed in part to implement section 114 of the Energy Policy Act of 
1992, became effective on November 20, 1995. The goal of the Program is 
to require planning and efficient electric energy use by Western's 
long-term firm power customers and to extend Western's firm power 
resource commitments. One aspect of the Program is to establish 
project-specific power resource pools and allocate power from these 
pools to new preference customers.
    Proposed allocations were published in the Federal Register (66 FR 
31910, June 13, 2001). Public information/comment forums concerning the 
proposed allocations were held August 10, 15, 16, 21, and October 4, 
2001. The public comment period closed October 11, 2001.
    The Procedures, in conjunction with the Post-1989 Marketing Plan 
(51 FR 4844, February 7, 1986), establish the framework for allocating 
power from the SLCA/IP Post-2004 Power Pool.

I. Comments and Responses

    Comment: Headgate Rock Dam generation should not be considered as 
an offset to Federal power when calculating the allocation for the 
Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT).
    Response: Western has researched the authorizing legislation for 
Headgate Rock Dam and electric generation facilities and agrees with 
this comment. The dam was built as an Indian project by the Department 
of the Interior for the benefit of the CRIT under the Snyder Act (25 
U.S.C. 13) and will not be considered a Federal power resource.
    Comment: The marketing area of the SLCA/IP was limited to Arizona, 
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and parts of Nevada. Some 
tribes have portions of their reservations in California. These should 
have been considered in making allocations.
    Response: Originally, the marketing area for the Colorado River 
Storage Project included all of the drainage area of the Colorado 
River. The Post-1989 Marketing Plan reduced the marketing area to 
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and portions of

[[Page 5114]]

Nevada. The current action is an extension of that marketing plan. 
Therefore, Western is not able to consider expanding the marketing area 
at this time. Any expansion of the marketing area to include portions 
of reservations in California is outside the scope of this effort. The 
portions of reservations in California are within the Parker-Davis 
Project marketing area. Power resource pools from these projects will 
be allocated effective upon expiration of existing contracts on 
September 30, 2008. Tribes with reservation lands and eligible loads in 
California may be able to participate in that process.
    Comment: Allocations were not proposed for the Indian Pueblos of 
San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, and Taos because their applications were 
not complete. They should be allowed to complete the application 
process and receive allocations.
    Response: Western's mandate is to ensure the most widespread use of 
the Federal resources. Consistent with this, Western's goal was to 
achieve 100 percent participation by the eligible Indian tribes within 
the SLCA/IP marketing area. These three Pueblos along with the Moapa 
Band of Paiute Indians had not completed the application process and 
were not included in the proposed allocations. The Pueblos have now 
completed the application process. Allocations for these tribes are 
included in this notice. The Moapa Band of Paiutes has not indicated 
any further interest in Federal power and will not receive an 
allocation.
    Comment: Western should closely review data submitted by tribes. 
The proposed allocations were based on Indian-owned loads on the 
reservations. Some ineligible loads may have been used in determining 
allocations.
    Response: Western has conducted a reasonable review and 
verification of the Applicant Profile Data submitted by the tribes. 
Western believes that the tribes submitted their data in good faith and 
complied with the criteria. Tribes were asked to divide their 
commercial loads into Indian and non-Indian owned.
    The allocation proposed for the Yavapai Prescott Tribe was based on 
a large amount of non-Indian owned commercial load on the Yavapai 
Prescott reservation. This was correctly identified by the Yavapai 
Prescott Tribe but incorrectly included by Western in determining the 
proposed allocation. The Tribe's allocation has been revised to base it 
only on allowed loads and to make it consistent with other tribes' 
allocations.
    Comment: Because Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association 
(Tri-State) and Plains Electric Generation and Transmission 
Cooperative, Inc. (Plains) merged (in addition to the 7 percent 
withdrawal for the Post-2004 Power Pool), an additional 7,000 kilowatts 
(kW) and associated energy will be withdrawn from Tri-State. Some 
tribes commented that these 7,000 kW and the energy should be placed in 
the SLCA/IP Power Pool and allocated to the tribes.
    Response: As stated in the June 13, 2001, Federal Register notice, 
Western's intent in withdrawing additional resources from Tri-State was 
to provide an allocation for Navopache Electric Cooperative 
(Navopache). Navopache was a member of Plains and received the benefit 
of Federal power through this membership. However, in the merger, 
Navopache chose not to become a member of Tri-State, thus losing access 
to Federal power. Western's intent in withdrawing an additional 7,000 
kW from Tri-State was to provide an allocation to Navopache. This will 
enable Navopache to again receive Federal power after the merger of 
Tri-State and Plains eliminated its Federal power benefit. Navopache 
will be allocated 7,000 kW in both of the Summer and Winter seasons. It 
will receive 15,350,991 kilowatthours (kWh) of energy in the Summer 
season and 14,660,861 kWh in the Winter season.
    Comment: Western should not consider the benefits of Federal power 
from current tribal service providers when making allocations to the 
tribes. In the event of the formation of a tribal utility, that power 
would be inaccessible to the tribes.
    Response: The intent of the Program is to provide the benefits of 
Federal hydropower directly to individual tribes. Allocations listed in 
this notice will be made directly to the tribes. Any indirect Western 
hydroelectric benefits recognized in the calculation method were used 
by Western to determine a fair share for tribes at the time of 
allocation with no intent to create any commitment to transfer those 
benefits to the tribes. Any indirect Western hydroelectric benefits 
received by the tribes are due to contractual commitments between 
Western and the existing customers.
    The White Mountain Apache Tribe (White Mountain) argued that since 
Navopache does not currently receive Federal power, indirect Federal 
benefits should not be considered in proposing a power allocation for 
White Mountain. However, Navopache will receive an allocation of SLCA/
IP power at the same time that White Mountain is eligible to receive 
service under this proposal. Since White Mountain and its members 
receive electric service from Navopache, they will at that time receive 
indirect Federal benefits through Navopache. They were also receiving 
the indirect benefit of Federal power during the base year established 
by Western for determination of the allocations. Consistent with the 
methodology used for all tribes, these indirect benefits have been 
accounted for in the proposed allocation for White Mountain.
    Comment: Several tribes commented that energy not contracted for 
tribes should be used to increase other tribes' allocations to reach 
the target of 65 percent of eligible load. On the other hand, current 
customers commented that energy not contractually committed to tribes 
should be returned to the current customers.
    Response: Western's intent is to enter into contracts with all 
tribes and/or nations receiving an allocation prior to October 1, 2004. 
In the event that a contract with a tribe for its allocation is not 
consummated prior to this date, such tribe's allocation will be held 
until a contract is completed or arrangement to take delivery of the 
power or the benefits of the power are made. Western stated in the 
criteria that energy not contracted for by new customers would be 
returned to current customers. It is now evident that the quantity of 
energy not contractually committed will be so small that reallocating 
it would not be administratively effective. The energy will not be 
reallocated to other tribes or existing customers but will be made 
available for the use of all customers through standard terms of the 
firm electric service contracts.
    Comment: Western's current customers commented that the firm 
electric service contracts with the tribes should be the same as the 
contracts with current customers. However, some Indian representatives 
commented that certain changes should be made to the General Power 
Contract Provisions that take into account tribal sovereignty. 
Underlying reserve contracts should be offered to tribes to reserve the 
power allocation for each tribe and would allow changes to the method 
of implementation. Western's Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) 
requirements should be useful but not burdensome to the tribes.
    Response: Entering into contractual arrangements with the tribes is 
the next step of the resource pool allocation process. However, 
contractual arrangements will not begin until final allocations are 
completed. Contractual provisions will be consistent with Section IV of 
the Procedures.

[[Page 5115]]

    Comment: Several comments were submitted concerning delivery points 
for Federal power.
    Response: Delivery issues will be addressed after the allocation is 
final. Contracts for transmission service will be developed between the 
tribes and transmission providers. The tribes are ultimately 
responsible for transmission and delivery arrangements beyond the SLCA/
IP Federal delivery points. However, Western will assist tribes in 
securing the necessary transmission or other arrangements that are 
necessary to ensure that they will receive the benefits of SLCA/IP 
power.
    Comment: If changes to the proposed allocations are made, Western 
should publish revised proposed allocations and provide time for public 
review and comment.
    Response: Western has made changes to the proposed allocations. 
However, all of the changes are the result of better information about 
applicants' loads and not the result of changes in criteria or policy. 
Western has consistently applied the criteria to all applicants in 
making the allocations. Allowing further public review and comment 
would delay further the implementation of the program and delay the 
offer of contracts to the tribes.

II. Amount of Pool Resources

    Western will allocate to the tribes 7 percent of the SLCA/IP long-
term firm hydroelectric resource available as of October 1, 2004, as 
firm power. Current hydrologic studies indicate that 203,251,178 kWh of 
energy and 93,679 kW of capacity will be available for the Summer 
season. In the Winter season, 217,281,509 kWh of energy and 93,680 kW 
of capacity will be available. Firm power means firm capacity and 
associated energy allocated by Western and subject to the terms and 
conditions specified in Western's long-term firm power electric service 
contracts.
    Based on the applications submitted by the Northern Arapaho and the 
Eastern Shoshone tribes, Western could not differentiate between each 
tribe's load. The data from each tribe were used to arrive at a final 
allocation for the Wind River Reservation (Reservation) instead of each 
tribe. The final SLCA/IP allocation for the Reservation considers, in 
addition to the hydroelectric benefit from Western through the 
reservation's serving utility, the proposed allocation from Western's 
Loveland Area Projects resource pool.

III. Final Power Allocation

    The following final power allocations are made in accordance with 
the Procedures. All of the allocations are subject to the execution of 
a contract in accordance with the Procedures.
    The final allocations for Indian tribes and organizations are shown 
in this table.

                       Salt Lake City Area Projects Post-2004 Power Pool Final Allocations
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                                                       Summer Energy    Winter Energy   Summer CROD  Winter CROD
           Indian Tribes or Organizations                  (kWh)            (kWh)           (kW)         (kW)
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Alamo Navajo Chapter................................          408,790          480,748          188          207
Canoncito Navajo Chapter............................          299,506          355,370          138          153
Cocopah Indian Tribe................................        2,806,867        2,523,150        1,294        1,088
Colorado River Indian Tribes........................       13,197,379        8,305,968        6,083        3,581
Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation......           86,101          149,588           40           64
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe............................          151,243          161,901           70           70
Ely Shoshone Tribe..................................          170,672          310,489           79          134
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe............................          680,593          775,099          314          334
Ft. McDowell Mojave-Apache Indian Community.........        5,142,570        5,418,248        2,370        2,336
Gila River Indian Community.........................       30,506,505       31,786,232       14,061       13,704
Havasupai Tribe.....................................          437,268          565,997          202          244
Hopi Tribe..........................................        5,951,066        6,698,757        2,743        2,888
Hualapai Tribe......................................        1,372,287        1,455,714          632          628
Jicarilla Apache Tribe..............................        1,285,957        1,806,153          593          779
Kiabab Band of Paiute Indians.......................                0            4,515            0            2
Las Vegas Paiute Tribe..............................        1,578,851        1,246,804          728          538
Mescalero Apache Tribe..............................        2,164,024        2,432,979          997        1,049
Nambe Pueblo........................................          129,837          160,606           60           69
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.....................       45,923,355       59,159,156       21,166       25,506
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.........................          348,269          371,538          161          160
Pascua Yaqui Tribe..................................        2,896,605        2,468,394        1,335        1,064
Picuris Pueblo......................................          167,980           54,273           77           23
Pueblo De Cochiti...................................          405,413          535,074          187          231
Pueblo of Acoma.....................................          931,658        1,007,712          429          434
Pueblo of Isleta....................................        2,405,246        2,644,248        1,109        1,140
Pueblo of Jemez.....................................          474,564          650,399          219          280
Pueblo of Laguna....................................        1,646,121        1,850,708          759          798
Pueblo of Pojoaque..................................          461,500          666,340          213          287
Pueblo of San Felipe................................          718,673        1,004,843          331          433
Pueblo of San Ildefonso.............................          139,859          157,241           64           68
Pueblo of San Juan..................................          661,979          745,095          305          321
Pueblo of Sandia....................................        2,065,478        1,947,417          952          840
Pueblo of Santa Clara...............................          474,377          650,190          219          280
Pueblo of Santo Domingo.............................          989,749        1,044,975          456          451
Pueblo of Taos......................................          491,193          835,116          226          360
Pueblo of Tesuque...................................        1,375,087        1,426,471          634          615
Pueblo of Zia.......................................          151,801          208,061           70           90
Pueblo of Zuni......................................        2,261,793        2,913,662        1,042        1,256
Quechan Indian Tribe................................        1,106,528        1,738,295          510          749
Ramah Navajo Chapter................................          665,272        1,012,039          307          436
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community...........       35,393,766       31,944,155       16,313       13,773
San Carlos Apache Tribe.............................        8,175,836        8,147,557        3,768        3,513

[[Page 5116]]

 
Santa Ana Pueblo....................................        1,007,669          977,463          464          421
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians................           33,427           35,292           15           15
Southern Ute Indian Tribe...........................        2,489,955        2,886,844        1,148        1,245
Tohono O'Odham Utility Authority....................        1,263,833        1,814,028          583          782
Tonto Apache Tribe..................................          837,790          832,681          386          359
Ute Indian Tribe....................................        1,013,717        1,692,229          467          730
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe..............................        1,057,428        1,248,391          487          538
White Mountain Apache Tribe.........................       12,786,934       14,387,553        5,894        6,203
Wind River Reservation..............................        1,074,186        1,207,269          495          521
Yavapai Apache Nation...............................        4,147,563        3,493,615        1,912        1,506
Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe.......................          768,247          812,225          354          350
Yomba Shoshone Tribe................................           68,806           72,645           32           31
                                                     -----------------------------------------------------------
    Total...........................................      203,251,178      217,281,509       93,679       93,680
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    The tribes' SLCA/IP allocations, combined with existing and future 
Western hydropower benefits, total approximately 55.7 percent of 
eligible load in the Summer season and 58.8 percent in the Winter 
season based on the adjusted seasonal energy data submitted by each 
tribe. The allocation process considered the current Western 
hydroelectric benefits received through serving utilities and future 
Western hydroelectric benefits that will be received by serving 
utilities as a result of this allocation process. The final allocations 
of power shown in the table are based on the SLCA/IP marketable 
resource currently available. If the SLCA/IP marketable resource is 
adjusted in the future, all allocations will be adjusted accordingly.

IV. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-621, requires Federal 
agencies to perform a regulatory flexibility analysis if a final rule 
is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 
of small entities and there is a legal requirement to issue a general 
notice of proposed rulemaking. Western has determined that this action 
does not require a regulatory flexibility analysis since it is a 
rulemaking of particular applicability involving rates or services 
applicable to public property.

V. Environmental Compliance

    Western has completed an environmental impact statement on the 
Program, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA). The Record of Decision was published in the Federal Register 
(60 FR 53181, October 12, 1995). Western's NEPA review assured all 
environmental effects related to these procedures have been analyzed.

VI. Determination 12866

    DOE has determined that this is not a significant regulatory action 
because it does not meet the criteria of Executive Order 12866, 58 FR 
51735. Western has an exemption from centralized regulatory review 
under Executive Order 12866; accordingly, this notice requires no 
clearance by the Office of Management and Budget.

VII. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

    Western has determined that this rule is exempt from congressional 
notification requirements under 5 U.S.C. 801 because the action is a 
rulemaking of particular applicability relating to rates or services 
and involves matters of procedure.

    Dated: January 17, 2002.
Michael S. Hacskaylo,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-2594 Filed 2-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P